Against the Sunrise
by Arcynic
Summary: One sleepless night in the digital world, Takenouchi Sora gains some insight on the mind of a certain Ishida Yamato. [Oneshot]


She frowned in the darkness, turning on her side so that she could rest her head on her arm. When this had proved just as uncomfortable as her last position, she rolled onto her other side, then her stomach, then finally onto her back again. She opened her eyes and glared upwards at the cruel heavens for cursing her with this bout of insomnia. She sighed and was about to close her eyes and try to sleep again when she heard a faint hum. It was slow and almost...rhythmic, a strangely haunting melody that assaulted her ears and made her want to listen forever. Sitting upright, as she had no plans of getting a wink of sleep any time soon, Sora peered into the darkness for the source of the noise, aided only slightly by the fading embers of the camp fire. She eased herself away from Piyomon very gently as to not disturb her petal colored friend and stepped quietly over the various bodies of sleeping humans and digimon towards that mysterious melody.

What Sora had not expected to find, and it _was_ rather difficult to surprise her after spending how many nights in the digital world, was Yamato. Sure, he had some sort of odd penchant for keeping his distance from the rest of them, but he usually had Gabumon with him, and the furry digimon was nowhere in sight. What made this even more bizarre was the fact that _he_ was the source of the music that had--not _woken_ her, she thought almost bitterly, but had gotten her out of bed--erm, well, had gotten her up. She rubbed her eyes and wondered idly if her sleep deprived mind had finally caved and had her seeing things, but sounds couldn't be imagined, could they? She hoped not. It would only make her that much more insane.

Shrugging, she decided to let him be, if he was in fact there at all. If he was, he probably would not want her company since he had come here with the intention of being alone. If he wasn't, and her mind just happened to create images and sounds of Yamato, then she really needed to get back to camp and try to sleep. She took a step backwards and winced when she heard the snap of a twig echo throughout the forest. The haunting tune abruptly stopped. Sora inwardly groaned and patted herself on the back for her clumsiness.

"Who is it?" He asked, in a voice much too low for a fourth grader to possess, in her opinion. She turned and let herself be seen, smiling weakly.

"Hey, uhm...Yamato kun." She replied, waving lamely. Even in the darkness she could see the tension in his shoulders visibly relax.

"Oh, Sora."

"Sorry, I heard your playing and wondered what it was. I'll just...go back to camp now." She smiled nervously, not liking the way his eyes seemed to glow eerily in the darkness.

"No... It's okay. You can stay." He said to her already retreating back. She turned to him in surprise. This was new. More awake than ever and knowing sleep would not come for a long while, Sora moved towards him and after a moment's hesitation, took a seat next to his left. He had his knees drawn up to his chest and his hands clutched loosely at something rectangular. She squinted in the darkness and made out the metal of the harmonica in the dim moonlight.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked so suddenly that it nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Yeah, I guess," she turned to him, "You too?"

He shrugged easily, "I usually can't."

"Oh." She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

'I'm sorry?' Well, it wasn't her fault he was a chronic insomniac.

'That's too bad?' And kick him when he's down?

'Don't worry?' But he wasn't.

She frowned at her inability to ease the situation. She didn't like awkward tension. She was mediator girl. If she could find a cure for insomnia then...well...she wouldn't be up right now, would she?

"It's dangerous at night; you shouldn't be walking alone without Piyomon." My was he chatty today. It was then the thought occurred that she had never actually _had_ a real conversation with the blond next to her. It was usually him and Taichi at each other's throats, with her telling them to calm down. Or perhaps occasionally they'd make small talk or strategize together, but that was basically it. She suddenly blinked when she realized his eyes were looking at her intently. He was waiting for a reply.

"Uh...well how about you? I don't see Gabumon anywhere."

"I didn't want to wake him."

"Same here."

A lull in the almost nonexistent conversation had Sora mentally kicking herself again. She wasn't quite easing the tension as she had sought to do. It was then that she remembered why she had come out here in the first place.

"Do you always come out alone to play your harmonica?" She asked, gesturing to the instrument in his hands.

"Yeah," a look of guilt suddenly washed over him, "Did I wake you?"

She smiled, liking the splash of emotion painted across his usually stoic face. It was a welcome change. "No. I was awake long before then."

"Oh...good. Well, not good that you can't sleep but, uh..."

She had to contain her chuckle at the way he fumbled through his speech. It wouldn't do well to have him think she was laughing at him. She shook her head, allowing him to stop in mid speech. His cheeks were tinged pink with embarrassment, or so she believed. It was hard to tell in the darkness.

"So why can't you sleep?" She asked lightly, feeling the awkwardness of the conversation had lifted considerably.

He fiddled with the instrument in his hands before suddenly turning his blue eyes on her. They didn't glow as eerily as before. They seemed softer, almost, twinkling with something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Have you ever slept against the sunrise?"

She blinked and shook her head silently, feeling as if she were on the verge of some important secret and not wanting to ruin the moment. But her mind couldn't help but think him a bit mad. How could one sleep _against the sunrise_?

"No?" He frowned a bit, eyes dimming at the thought that she wouldn't understand.

"Why?" She asked quietly. If it was important to him then she would try her hardest to understand it. Her look must have conveyed her very intent, as he nodded, falling onto his back and staring upwards toward the night sky.

"When I can't sleep...it's because I'm worried. Are we doing the right thing? Are we going to be okay? What about our parents? What about Takeru? Will he be safe at the end of this all? Will this all _end_?" It seemed that he put more thought into this than any of the others. Even she had been taken in by the adventure and could often forget about these worries, but he seemed to carry them every day. She waited for him to continue.

"So I wait for the sun to rise."

Her brow narrowed in concentration, but she still didn't quite understand. He noticed her look tried to elaborate, "When the sun rises...it means that our future is assured for at least one more day… that there's still a tomorrow."

She was startled at the depth of his thought and turned quickly to look at him. When her crimson eyes met his, he smiled faintly, "It's reassuring. When I see the sunrise, I can finally fall asleep with ease."

She opened her mouth to speak but at that very moment, the skies seemed to light up pale blue around her. She blinked and turned to the direction the sun was rising before turning back to him. His eyes seemed much warmer in the daylight.

"Goodnight, Sora." He smiled at her again before closing his eyes. She could feel the matching smile on her face as she lay down on the ground next to him. It felt as if the burden she hadn't known she held had been lifted from her shoulders. She relaxed and closed her eyes.

"Night, Yamato kun."

She frowned, however, as the sunlight danced across her closed lids, teasing her. He heard her toss and turn and sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"Too bright." 

He chuckled, "You get used to it."

He turned on his side and placed his gloved hand over her eyes, leaving her in complete darkness once more. "Better?"

And strangely it was better, much better than the darkness of the night had been. "Mm. Thanks." She mumbled, sleep already affecting her.

"No problem."

-

She lay awake, staring up at the velvet sky. The chosen children were all separated. Both worlds were in turmoil. The fate of every human and every digimon rested on their exhausted shoulders and the responsibility was too great. Could they really stand victorious after it all? She shuddered violently from something other than the chill in the air. Slowly, like a haunting melody of long ago, the skies began to lighten as the sun peeked out from its nightly veil.

She shut her eyes and placed her arm over them. There was still a future. And as long as she knew that, as long as she remembered, she could keep fighting—keep hoping.

"No problem." She whispered to herself as her breathing slowed and she let her mind relax, "No problem."

There was still a tomorrow.

-------------------------

A/N: As noted in my other fic, there are very few Taichi/Sora friendship fics, but there are hardly _any_ Yamato/Sora ones, so I decided to try my hand in it. (Recs for Yamato/Sora friendship fics would also be great.) That and the idea for this fic sprang up because for the past week I _had _been sleeping 'against the sunrise'. Which probably doesn't make much grammatical sense but I liked the sound of the phrase, and it is kind of a battle to sleep when the sun is rising.

Sorry for those who wanted romance, but if you couldn't tell, this is set in Adventure canon, and romance between 10 year olds is an idea that creeps me out. The first part probably takes place sometime before they go back to the real world, and the second part can fit in nicely after Yamato, Mimi, and Joe leave the group, I think. Or some time after that.

The slightly gloomy as well as hopeful ending note also helps explain Sora's later breakdown in the show, which kind of come out of nowhere, I think? Yes, ever the canon fangirl that I am, I love to make up my own theories for certain things I notice about different series.

In any case, mature comments/thoughts/etc. are always loved and appreciated.


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